My best attempt doing Chicago tax on the LH calc is to just do the deal with the regular IL tax as if it’s not in the city (select ny taxation if rolling in), and then just tax my final monthly an extra 9% or whatever it was.
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If i wanted a good estimate, i would fill out the lh calculator with the taxes set to 9% and select NY taxation. I would take note of the calculated taxes in the deal summary.
I would then add that tax amount to the gov fee amount and re-run with 9.5% as the tax rate and select monthly tax state.
It wont be perfect, but it’ll get you close enough to realize you shouldnt ever lease if you live in Chicago.
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Your sheet is fine…it matches to calc: (EDIT, pre tax)
Your calc doesnt account for chicago taxes though
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For sure…pre tax tho…as you know LH calc won’t deal with Chicago lease taxation.
OMG I’m cracking up lol 
Really appreciate the rest of the suggestions above too, thanks. Very quick response!
I would take @mllcb42 's advice if I were you.
If you have to lease, see if they offer a balloon lease. It is usually a little less expensive than a normal lease plus next time around you can trade it in (assuming you aren’t negative) and get a tax credit. Or you can but out the lease and not pay sales tax again.
Awesome idea, thanks! Ok, does NMAC do balloon leases?
I can check, I know they changed their programs to allow for the Signature Leases.
Hi! You’re on the right track - Illinois did change its lease tax rules starting 1/1/2015. For most vehicles, sales tax should only apply to the lease payments, not the full purchase price.
If a dealer is calculating tax on the total cost of the vehicle and rolling it into the capitalized cost, that can sometimes happen depending on how the lease is structured, but technically, it isn’t following the standard IL lease tax rule. Charging a finance charge on the sales tax in this case isn’t usually correct if the tax should only apply to the lease payments.
It’s a good idea to ask the dealer to break down the numbers in writing and show how the tax was calculated. You can also double-check with the Illinois Department of Revenue or a local tax professional to confirm that the quote aligns with the law.
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In Illinois, the tax is supposed to be charged only on the lease portion -not the full value of the car. However, dealers can apply it in different ways. Some add the tax directly to each monthly payment, while others calculate the total tax upfront and then roll it into the capitalized cost, which means you end up paying finance charges on that tax amount.
It’s not illegal, but it is a more expensive structure for the customer. If you prefer the tax added monthly (without extra finance charges), you can ask the dealer to structure it that way or compare quotes with another dealership that calculates it differently.